No one uses Latin much anymore and I only do so here to show how old the saying I’m going to use to base this column on is. The Romans back in the day used to say “omne trium perfectum” which loosely and conveniently translates to “good things happen in threes”.

So, here’s three very good things that I’ve seen happen in the Alexandra/Clyde area of late.

First is the Monte Christo Winery on Young Lane. I attended the opening of this superb new venue late last year and heard the story of how Stanley Paris came to stay in Alexandra during a 1950’s polio epidemic and fell in love with the place, a love he took with him as he went to America to forge a very successful career. 

Fast forward a few decades and Stanley comes back to Central and with his son Nicholas, a Master of Wines, set out to find the old Féraud winery in Springvale. 

Not only did they find it, but they also found the original building was owned by a distant cousin. 

Fast forward a bit and we now have an absolutely tastefully revamped original building housing a tasting room and a place to eat the treats from the food truck nearby. 

Also nearby is a wine cave and elegant accommodation. 

In progress is a winery where the wines produced from the vineyards chosen by Nicholas with, I imagine enthusiastic assistance from others in the family, will be made. 

Suddenly, well it seems suddenly from the outside, but I am sure it was far from that for the Paris family, our part of the world has a top class hospitality facility built around the South Island's first winery. 

This establishment would not be out of place in any of the great wine growing regions of the world, which is of course what we sit on top of here.

A matter of a few months after Monte Christo opened, another long-held family ambition came to fruition as the McLellan family opened The Finery in Alexandra. 

Linda and I were fortunate to attend the soft opening a couple of weeks ago to hear Rory tell the gathering how he and Karen had got married one day short of 35 years previously on the same spot in the old Hotel Alexandra and how they had long held an ambition to bring new life to the site where the Queen Mother once stayed. 

And bring new life they have, as the many who have had a drink or dined at The Finery this weekend with its official opening will attest to. 

Once again, a family has poured their heart, soul and significant money into creating something special for others to enjoy. 

As Monte Christo wouldn’t be out of place in any of the world's great wine growing regions, The Finery would not be out of place in any of the world’s great cities, it is that flash.

And to bring home the trifecta is, well, a fence. 

My ever-observant wife noticed yesterday that the screen on the fence around the site of the old Challenge station in Clyde now bears the branding of Breen Construction (speaking of great local families) meaning I suspect that construction is about to begin. 

I have heard inklings of what is going in there and who is behind it and those inklings point to nothing but good things coming up out of the ground over the next wee while. 

I’m looking forward to seeing what eventuates.

It’s all a bit doom and gloom of late on the economic front and certainly things are hard for some and in some sectors, but that may be even more reason to celebrate the ambition and success of those making things happen around us.